Twist different three-dimensional items until you get them to fit into a specific silhouette. That's the premise of 3D Twist and Match, a unique Mini that is compatible with both the PlayStation 3 and Portable systems. Developed and published by Sanuk Games, it's a puzzle game that uses simple game design to try to appeal to those on the go who like to play games for five or ten minutes at a time. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit into the planned groove.
Three-Dimensional Twist and Match is essentially a 360 degree puzzle game. Each item has a specific position it needs to be in and players earn points based on how successful they are at rotating it into that position. This is all done via the directional pad (or left joystick) for rotation and the use of the left and right shoulder buttons to shift the item. It's very simple, but it's something the like of which isn't seen very often in gaming. Though it's quite similar to the popular baby toy where you have to fit the right shape into the appropriately sized hole.
Through the main menu, two different challenge-based game modes are accessible, although they're both very similar apart from time differences. Classic Mode allows players to play with a time bar that constantly depletes as they try to rotate objects into the correct position that is shown by a black silhouette in the middle of the screen. Once the time gauge runs up, the game is over. The player's points (earned by matching items with variations depending on speed and consecutive match multipliers) are tallied up and added to the (offline) leaderboard. In order to add some variety to the experience, the background image and types of items change after every five or so. The ten available themes include a construction site, a graveyard (representing Halloween) and a beach. The items you rotate are the types of things you would see in that location, such as a ghost, power tool or a two piece swimming suit.
The second mode that is available is a difficult challenge mode. In this mode, you are not allowed to fail even once. No retries are allowed. You must find the correct position for every item that comes up, or else the words game over will pop up immediately. It'll happen a lot, as it's really tough even on easy. Unfortunately, it's more frustrating than fun even though it's a decent idea for this type of game. A leaderboard is also available for this mode, but it's also offline. For those who do wish to improve their skills for this mode especially, there is a practice mode. Different theme sets that you play with in the main modes become unlocked in practice mode.
Though its design is unique and interesting, the gameplay is unfortunately very simple, tedious and more frustrating than fun. A poor control scheme and shadows that lack clarity really mar the experience. It's sometimes very difficult to see what position an item is supposed to be in, especially when it's supposed to have its top facing inside of the screen. This is made even harder by the fact that the items take up a large part of the middle of the screen. Rotating and flipping the items can also be quite clumsy at times, leading to a lot of frustrating moments of spamming the controls just to try as many different positions as possible, before the time limit runs out. It's nice that they added leaderboards and unlockable medals for including tasks, but they will only interest more seasoned gamers.
Visually, the game is nothing to write home about. The limitations of the Mini format must be understood and taken into account when one is playing one of these releases, but the visuals just aren't very nice to look at. There are a lot of jagged edges on the items and their silhouettes, which really draws attention away from its gameplay. Plus, most of the background images look like they were just thrown together at the last minute as most are very basic and static representations of locations or holidays. The company's two previous Minis releases looked a lot better - especially Pix'n Love Rush, which was great all-around.
The audio is the same thing. Really underwhelming, overall. The only bit of audio the game really has is a musical score that most people who play it will almost immediately turn off due to its grating qualities. You can tell that they tried to make the music upbeat and catchy so that it would add to the experience by increasing tension, but it fails to do that. The tunes used are very upbeat, but sound a lot like chip tunes that are played too fast. It was a missed opportunity.
Unfortunately, 3D Twist and Match fails to deliver a compelling gaming experience, even at its low price of two dollars and fifty cents. The idea is interesting, but the gameplay has no lasting appeal. There isn't much of an incentive to go back to it after the first time you play it because it lacks online leaderboards and doesn't offer much in the way of replay value. Additionally, it's far too difficult, especially when you take its aforementioned control and depth issues into account. Hardcore puzzle fans who are looking for unique games may find this one interesting, but the majority of people will probably want to try something else instead.
Rating: 2.5/10
3D Twist and Match was released on the PlayStation Network on April 12, 2011. It sells for $2.50.
